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Photo#254813
Scale? - Polistes

Scale? - Polistes
Venice, Sarasota County, Florida, USA
Size: about 1/16 inch
I can't seem to find these anywhere. Is it some kind of scale? It is all over our orange and grapefruit trees.

Moved

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

A home for this image?
This is the oldest photo still sitting in ID Request (over 2 months now). I think it is obviously interesting enough to warrant saving for the guide -- but, the question is "where?". I believe the poster's intent was to get an ID on the small white insects, but there might not be enough detail present to be able to be certain of their identity. Martin Hauser has put forth that the fungus victim is a Polistes, but it seems a shame to let this image get buried in with all the other unknown paper wasps. I think the most fascinating part of the photo is actually the Cordyceps fungus, but of course there is no guide page for that. One idea might be to move this image to Unsolved bug-related mysteries, and then also to provide a thumbnail link from the Parasitic fungi article. [EDIT: Oops! I see that someone has already linked this image to the article.]

I would love to hear input from both the contributor and others as to what they think the best solution is!

 
Not Cordyceps
Nor is the link that's labeled as Cordyceps fungus. In fact, many references to the genus on BugGuide are in error as there are quite a few entomopathogenic fungi genera besides Cordyceps. The genus with species in our area that infect Polistes is instead Ophiocordyceps (in particularly the species O. sphecocephala and O. humbertii).

 
Thanks for the correction and additional info!
Hi Jonathan. Yup, my understanding of entomopathogenic fungi was pretty non-existent back then. I console myself with the fact that I was definitely not alone in my ignorance as to the actual diversity present within this group. :) I'm always fascinated to learn a little more wherever I can and most definitely appreciate the insight into which species typically target Polistes spp.

 
To be fair,
Ophiocordyceps used to be part of Cordyceps, even if they are placed in different families now, and "cordyceps" is still used as a common name for everything that used to be Cordyceps, similarly to "aster" as a common name for plants.

 
Bonus!
Thank you, Charley, for still more fascinating insight into the taxonomic history and naming conventions.

 
Thanks
Yes, I was wanting to know the white bugs. But, I have been fascinated with the Cordyceps too. I am leaving this up to you.

 
I would like to see it on the
I would like to see it on the insect fungus site....

 
Which site?
This one? Or are you referring to something else?

 
I confused it with the Dipter
I confused it with the Diptera with fungus bugguide site:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/59369/bgimage
Maybe we need to open an new category...

 
Here's a bold suggestion...
From having read the article on parasitic fungi, it is obvious that it effects many more insects than just diptera (coleoptera, hymenoptera, lepidoptera, orthoptera, heteroptera and arachnids are all represented thus far). What if we take ALL of the fungus images and lump them into one category that we place as a "No Taxon" listing under Class Insecta at the very end? We have already done this with eggs and leaf mines (see here for the reference). Too bold a move? What do others think?

 
My vote...
would be to continue filing the images according to the ID of the victim, to the extent an ID is possible, with a link to the fungus article. The article serves the function of collecting all the images in one place--and I'll eventually make it more orderly (say, six months from now when I'm not so busy with fieldwork). Actually, two of us have already linked to this image from that article. It seems that Polistes is the best placement for this one; I think there is simply not enough detail to do any more than speculate about the ID of the little white bugs.

 
Agreed!
And, if you want any help organizing the article or finding more images, I'd be happy to assist -- just let me know.

How about...

Wow,
looks alot like tiny Scymnus larva. I have seen them in bunches like this eating aphids, but a little bigger. Just a guess though.

Cool a Polistes with Cordycep
Cool a Polistes with Cordyceps ....

-
There is a lot going on there. Can't wait to see the discussion.
A fungus victim, a transient spider web and complex spore dispersal mechanism???? Not to mention scale?

 
Yes, sorry
I couldn't crop the photo any more or it would have been blurry. I'm talking about all those white things not the poor wasp.

 
-
I still think a fungus victim page would be cool.

 
There's a draft article...
... in the guide here with other parasitic fungi photos. Perhaps you could post a link to this one?

 
yes, i agree -- lots of drama
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